Moving from the current wireless standard ZigBee to the next-generation ZigBee standard dubbed “Smart Energy Profile 2.0″ is going to be a very big deal for utilities, and smart grid firms. Now we’ve got three months to map out the transition. Read more »
The popular California Solar Initiative (CSI) program has been so popular that it’s set to run out of money sooner than expected. What will happen if the state doesn’t authorize more money for the program? Consumers will lose some important protection from unscrupulous solar service providers. Read more »
California has led the country in solar policy and solar rooftop installations, but keeping its lead won’t be easy. The president of California Public Utilities Commission, Michael Peevey, laid out some of the challenges to promote renewable energy generation by homes, businesses, schools and government agencies. Read more »
Business and IT leaders now face significant opportunities and challenges with big data — that is data sets that are so large they are difficult to store, manage and analyze. This report explores the rapidly evolving big data business and technology ecosystem. It examines big data in the context of several different industries: financial services, health care, sports, travel and media. We explore the different big data technologies — from Hadoop and NoSQL derivatives to cloud-based collaboration tools — and their various benefits for enterprises. And we examine some of the existing challenges big data poses, and what enterprise IT leaders can do to overcome them. Companies mentioned in this report include Amazon Web Services, Google, Teradata, IBM and Cloudera. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Smart meter companies take note: the battle over smart meters in California isn’t going away, will likely get more complicated, and could impact tech companies banking on the rollout of a massive amount of smart meters connected to wireless networks. Read more »
Two years ago, utility PG&E first announced it wanted to invest in and own solar projects in California. Well, PG&E’s made some progress on that front in the form of three solar photovoltaic projects it will develop and own in central California. Read more »
Californians may see a big jump in their energy bills due to the fact that the state utilities’ clean power projects under contract will be billions of dollars more expensive than what the utilities would otherwise pay for power from natural gas plants. Read more »
This year has turned out to be a boom year for the solar industry. What will 2011 bring? Here are key trends that can emerge next year, in terms of policies, financing, project development, new markets and technology. Read more »
2010 was a year of ups and downs for the smart grid industry. Here are my thoughts on what needs to happen — both across the industry and with some of the individual players — for this sector to hit a home run in 2011. Read more »
San Francisco’s outgoing mayor Gavin Newsom has long backed clean power, for the city but there’s one energy initiative that has remained outside his grasp: using the power of the ocean to generate electricity. Can he make it happen from state office? Read more »
For those who see the grid as a web off rough and narrow highways that can’t handle a big surge in renewable electricity, there is hope. Big transmission projects across the nation have broken ground or won key approvals this month. Read more »
I can see it now: utility execs and smart grid entrepreneurs shaking their collective heads over the recent (and seemingly never ending) spate of media attention on consumers pushing back against smart meters. This story seriously won’t go away. Here’s why. Read more »
A project that could’ve helped to advance wave energy development is now under the water. At least for now. The Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has suspended a 5-megawatt project off Northern California coast primarily because it’d cost too much. Read more »
Ice is nice, but so is cash. The startup that builds an ice-based energy storage and air conditioning system for buildings — Ice Energy — announced this morning that it has raised a $24 million Series C round of funding. Read more »
Nielsen is adding its voice to the chorus of research firms confirming the ascension of Android. Nielsen said among recent acquirers of smartphones in the last six months through August, Android was the top platform with 32 percent of purchases, followed by the iPhone and RIM. Read more »
There’s been a lot of high-fiving among energy storage technology developers about a bill signed into law by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week. However, the bill doesn’t mandate energy storage, which means it’s far from determined which technologies and players will be the big winners. Read more »
A group of federal researchers have dived into a project to explore animal magnetism, except it’s not what you might think — it looks into the potential effects of electromagnetic fields on marine wildlife, and could become a key reference for any environmental impact review. Read more »
When Walmart decides to invest in emerging green technologies it offers considerable validation. That’s certainly the intention behind Walmart’s announcement that it will pay for solar electricity from installations that use thin film solar panels from MiaSole and First Solar and are installed by SolarCity. Read more »
BrightSource Energy is close to securing approval from the California Energy Commission for its first commercial project to build a solar thermal power plant, and it’s lined up a hefty federal loan guarantee. Is it time for it to go public? Read more »
The official verdict is out — Pacific Gas & Electric’s smart meter technology has been working properly, but its customer service hasn’t. That’s the conclusion of a state-ordered report released Thursday from independent analysts at the Structure Group. Read more »
California state regulators have spent the last few years trying to revise a program that was meant to boost small-scale renewable energy generation but wasn’t popular because it wasn’t lucrative enough to attract many takers. Now, a new proposal has emerged. Read more »
Utilities know they have to figure out how to store energy produced intermittently, such as wind and solar, or store energy from fossil-fuel power plants to keep the grid loaded when wind turbines and solar energy equipment aren’t doing their best. Read more »
A Kleiner Perkins-backed startup is supplying the gear for the largest solar farm in the world that will use concentrating photovoltaics — a hybrid tech that uses solar cells and solar thermal tech. Read more »
Schott Solar’s announcement that it plans to halve its factory capacity for solar thermal equipment and will lay off 30 workers is a sobering reminder of some of the hurdles ahead for this emerging industry (or re-emerging, depending on your perspective). Read more »
Today on the Net: About 300 million Chinese residents tune into video on the web, Adap.tv added multiple new publishers as customers of its ad platform and cable profits could be boosted by higher affiliate fees due to TV Everywhere services. Read more »
